The present invention relates to a system and method for estimating the value of information sources. More particularly it relates to a method and system for estimating the value of information sources to a user based on similarities between the user and other users.
For any particular person the modern world holds a vast number of information sources, which may hold information that is of use or of interest to that person but of which that person is unaware. Such information sources include; databases, either local or remotely accessible over a network such as the Internet; sites, such as web pages, relating to various subjects; and other parties such as professionals or experts in various fields. In addition there is in general more information than a person can consider in a reasonable amount of time, even if they are aware of it. Further, in today's world, a person's interests and priorities are constantly changing, so that the window in which information must be found and evaluated if it is to be useful is often small.
Some existing mechanisms such as newspapers, newsgroups, and rumor mills (i.e. “the grapevine”) provide loosely targeted groups of users with general information, typically with little or no attribution, so that a person does not know the support, if any, for the information. Some existing automated systems search specified databases for information, which a person suspects might exist in the specified databases. Other automated systems provide lists of sources ranked by popularity or recommendations of previous users. These systems, however, require the user to have extensive knowledge about what information is sought in order to identify the categories to be investigated. Other existing automated systems, such as banner ad placement algorithms, employ information from monitoring a vendor's systems to target selected advertising to present to on-line customers. For example, an on-line store might offer a user a list of other items purchased by other customers who have previously purchased an item being considered by a first customer. However, such systems are operated by vendors and typically exclude information that does not relate to purchase opportunities and may exclude competitors offerings; and users may be reluctant to entrust such a sales oriented and possibly biased system with extensive personal information.
Thus, though the above described system have proven useful for their intended purposes, there is a need for a method and system for thorough searching and accurate rating of a broad range of available information sources.